How to cancel A Voter Registration?

As most of you know, my husband and I recently relocated back to our home state of North Carolina. And while we are thrilled to be back, there are tons of things that must be taken care of anytime there is a change of address. Especially when it involves moving to a different state!

So, we did the usual things first, such as officially change our address with the Post Office and alert our bill collectors and bank, etc. Then we got our new NC driver’s licenses and car tags. And we registered to vote in North Carolina. We thought we handled everything!

Then I saw some statistics online discussing voter registration. It stated that 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters. In addition, 2.75 million people have voter registrations in more than 1 state. (stats via The Federalist) I realized I was inadvertently one of the 2.75 million people! Yikes! My husband and I registered to vote when we got our new driver’s licenses but didn’t think about our old voter registration in Pennsylvania.

Google to the rescue. I looked up how the cancel your voter registration in Pennsylvania and I found it! You can download a form, fill it out and return it to your former voting precinct. Because we were registered to vote in Bucks County, PA, we mailed our completed forms there. Ours is titled “Request to Cancel Voter Registration”, issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State. Part of me misses historic Pennsylvania!

The form asks your name, former address, date of birth, previous driver’s license number, last 4 digits of your Social Security number, phone number and email address. Then it asks you to confirm that you wish to cancel your voter registration in a particular county and the reason. For us, we are no longer legal residents of Bucks County and intend to transfer our voter registration record to our new county of legal residence. Sign it, date it, mail it! All done!

It seems to me it would be much simpler when you are moving to a new state and you register to vote, your old registration would simultaneously become null and void. And the same thing if you pass away, shouldn’t your name be automatically removed from the voter roll? I guess we aren’t there yet, so it’s up to all Americans to make sure we not only register to vote, but also cancel your registration in a different state as soon as you move. I just wanted to make sure we did it before the upcoming election.

Rules for changing your voter registration varies from state to state. Some require you to print out a form and mail it in, while others allow you to update voter registration changes online. Find your state and registration information here:

For details and instructions on how to cancel your voter registration also see the link below via wikihow. Or simply google “how to cancel voter registration in your state”. If you have further questions, make sure you call your local Board of Elections. They will be able to steer you in the right direction with regards to registering and/or cancelling your voter registration. Also, if you register to vote at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) make sure you receive confirmation of your voter registration in the mail within a week or two. If not, again contact your local Election Board. Voting is a privilege!